The United States has said that a group of attackers who tried to seize an Israel-linked cargo ship over the weekend were probably Somali pirates rather than Houthi fighters from nearby Yemen.

Speaking on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder noted that the US has not ruled out a Houthi connection to the attempted hijacking by five armed men over the weekend.

"We're continuing to assess, but initial indications that these five individuals are Somali," said Ryder.

"Clearly a piracy-related incident," he added.

US Navy forces thwarted the capture of the tanker Central Park over the weekend after it was boarded by armed men, who were captured after the US warship Mason arrived on the scene.

The attempted hijacking comes at a time when Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have carried out a series of raids on ships in the region, and the US said ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled territory in the direction of US ships shortly after the attack.

The Houthis have consolidated control over large swathes of northern Yemen and emerged as a growing force in the region after a years long war with the country's government and a coalition of forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

While fighting in Yemen has become more subdued over the last year, the Houthis have launched several attacks on Israel amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Fighting became 'more subdued' after the Houthis began bringing the war closer to home by targeting Saudi Arabia with drones.

Missile and drone attacks launched towards Israel have largely failed, but the group has seized commercial ships in the Red Sea that they say have connections to Israel.

Following one such seizure earlier this month, the US said that it was considering redesignating the Houthis as a "terrorist" organisation.

The Pentagon has said that the ballistic missiles fired over the weekend were launched in the general direction of the US ships, but that they fell into the ocean about 19km (10 nautical miles) away from the vessels and did not result in any injuries.

Yemen's government in Aden placed blame on the Houthis for the attack, but the group did not acknowledge either the missile launch or the attempted vessel seizure.

The Central Park is managed by Zodiac Maritime Ltd, a London-headquartered international ship management firm, owned by Israel's Ofer family.

Six people have been remanded in custody over the killing of a French teenager whose death at a village dance party sparked political controversy in France, prosecutors said on Sunday (Nov 26).

Last weekend a 16-year-old pupil, identified only as Thomas, was stabbed when a group of outsiders descended on a festive crowd gathered in Crepol, in the southeastern region of Drome, for a dance party in the village hall.

He died on his way to hospital. Eight others were injured.

On Tuesday, nine suspects including three minors were detained in connection with the teenager's murder.

Three are minors, the others are aged between 19 and 22.

After 96 hours in police custody, the suspects were transferred to the Valence courthouse on Saturday.

The public prosecutor's office had requested the opening of an investigation into charges including attempted murder and "murder in an organised gang."

Nine people have been placed under investigation "in accordance with the request of the public prosecutor", prosecutor Laurent de Caigny said in a statement, without providing further details.

"Six people, including two minors, were remanded in custody," he added. "Three people, including one minor, were placed under judicial supervision."

On Saturday, the prosecutor said that the motive and the details of the crime had not yet been established in full.

According to the preliminary investigation, an altercation that began inside the dance hall, possibly linked to a remark about the hairstyle of one of the suspects, continued outside. More young people arrived in one or two cars.

What were these armed 'outsiders' doing descending on a village party at 2am?

Nine witnesses reported hearing remarks aimed against "white people", said the public prosecutor.

However, de Caigny said that the investigation cannot at this stage state with certainty that the victims have been targeted on the basis of their race, ethnicity, or religion.

Most of the suspects admit to having been in Crepol, but deny having stabbed anyone.

On Wednesday, more than 6,000 people marched in the southeastern town of Romans-sur-Isere in memory of Thomas.

Around 2,000 people attended the teenager's funeral in the village of Saint-Donat-sur-l'Herbasse on Friday.

Even before the arrests, far-right politicians had been quick to blame the attack on youths from immigrant backgrounds from public housing.

"Now anti-white racism is hitting our countryside," Marion Marechal, the leading candidate for the far-right Reconquete! party of ex-presidential hopeful Eric Zemmour in next year's European elections, has claimed on X, formerly Twitter.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees previously reported that since the start of the full-scale war, approximately 6.3 million people have fled Ukraine. BBC Ukraine, referring to an analysis of Eurostat information, writes that according to open-source data, 4.2 million Ukrainians have received temporary protections in the EU, with 18.3% (768,000) being men aged 18 to 64. BBC Ukraine reports Exxpress obtained data on men aged 18 to 60.

Previously, the BBC reported, citing data from Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, and Slovakia, that between February 2022 and August 31, 2023, 19,740 men had illegally crossed the Ukrainian border.

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